It's Official: Leno's Leaving Prime Time

Despite heavy hype and many millions in promotion, NBC has (finally) decided to pull the plug on Jay Leno's (failing) efforts to win over viewers in prime time.

Addressing a roomful of reporters at the Television Critics Association's semiannual tour on Sunday, NBC Universal Television's newly appointed Chairman Jeff Gaspin confirmed what the blogosphere has been buzzing about for days: Leno is being shipped back to his 11:35 p.m. time slot after the Winter Olympics wrap in late February. The refreshingly candid Gaspin said he hoped Conan O'Brien's The Tonight Show would move to 12:05 a.m. with Jimmy Fallon following an hour later.

Though Gaspin claims the 10 p.m. move had not yet proven a wrong decision for NBC -"It was working financially," he argued. "We were actually making money at 10 o'clock."--it didn't meet the affiliates' needs as far as late local newscast lead-ins were concerned. In the three-plus months since Leno launched in prime-time, the 10 p.m. audience had fallen close to 30%. "The drumbeat started getting louder and louder," he said of the frustrated affiliate constituent, and a movement was afoot to preempt the show in its current form. (Comcast, which will assume a majority ownership of NBC pending regulatory approval, played no role in the programming decision, according to Gaspin.)

"As much as I'd like to tell you we have a done deal, the talks are still going on," Gaspin said when pressed for more details. What is certain: Leno is (once again) on board with NBC's desires, while O'Brien remains undecided and allegedly has interest from other networks like Fox. (Gaspin expects to have confirmation one way or the other before the Olympics begin in mid-February. All parties involved have been given the weekend to think it over and will return to conversations on Monday.)

What will fill the suddenly vacant 10 p.m. programming block this spring is not yet clear. Gaspin expects two nights of scripted programs along with one reality show, some Dateline hours and repeats.

Looking further into the future, he says NBC will "go back to the basics," a marked shift for a network that has become famous for "reinventing"--or attempting to reinvent, anyway--the broadcast model in recent years. In addition to returning to the traditional upfront presentation format and schedule in May, the fourth-place network will also put a priority on scripted drama again. To offer proof, Gaspin's programming counterpart, Prime-Time Entertainment President Angela Bromstad announced a slew of pickups, including series from Jerry Bruckheimer (The Chase), David E. Kelley (Kindreds) and JJ Abrams (Undercovers).